Teen kayaker missing after craft capsizes

MISSION BAY  A search is to resume in Mission Bay Sunday morning for the body of a 17-year-old kayaker presumed drowned when his watercraft capsized Saturday afternoon.

The incident was reported shortly before 3 p.m. near the Santa Clara Point Recreation Center, said San Diego Fire-Rescue spokesman Lee Swanson.

Several witnesses saw the teenager paddling in a red kayak, then capsize part-way across the bay. He held onto a life preserver for a time, then apparently lost his hold on it, witnesses told lifeguards.

A lifeguard official said the youth did not know how to swim.

Several divers were in the water while lifeguards searched from boats, looking for the kayaker in the murky bay water. After an hour, the effort switched from rescue to recovery of a body, Swanson said.

Even with sonar, the teen's body was not found by nightfall. Swanson said the search would resume in the morning.

Swanson said the kayak had been rented and police found the rental agency and the customer information.